Growing up, Corey Elder wanted the fame and fortune that came with being a famous rapper. But his alleged involvement in drug dealing cost him his life at the age of 19 after he was shot dead in his home during a would-be robbery attempt.
Six people now stand accused of his murder. They include Megan Cater, 19, and Noah Peterson, 20, both of Lakeville; Briana Martinson, 20, of Prior Lake, and Alec Streit, 20, of Minneapolis. They recruited Tarrance Murphy, 20, and Maurice Verser, 33, also of Minneapolis, to break into Elder's home and rob him, according to criminal charges. But the robbery escalated and ended with Elder shot as his girlfriend looked on.
All six were charged Monday and Tuesday with two counts of second-degree murder, a count of first-degree burglary and a count of second-degree assault.
Colin Griffin remembers Elder as a friend who despite dealing drugs was a good person, was kind and wanted to make people laugh.
The two of them went to school together at Jefferson High School in Bloomington. At around age 14, Griffin said Elder started selling marijuana. He said Elder realized how easy it was to make quick money.
His friends said they were worried about him, but there was nothing they could say to convince him to give up dealing.
Elder was in his Bloomington apartment with his girlfriend the night of his death. He gave her a ring that night, his friends said, promising to love her forever.
A few minutes later, according to friends and court records, Cater and Martinson came to his door. His girlfriend would tell police that the two were regulars. Two days earlier Martinson had accidentally left a bottle of pills at his apartment and instead of giving them back, Elder planned to sell them, his girlfriend told police.
Cater and Martinson concocted a plan, according to criminal charges and search warrants made public on Tuesday. They reached out to the four others to break into his apartment to steal drugs, money, and "rough up" Elder, according to the criminal complaint.
As Peterson and Streit waited in a car, according to the criminal complaint, Cater and Martinson barged in the door first to ransack Elder's apartment. Verser and Murphy followed and started beating Elder up. Elder's girlfriend tried to help him, but she told police that Murphy held a gun to her head.
The fight carried into the bedroom. Elder crawled onto the bed next to his girlfriend. Verser raised a black handgun and fired a single shot into Elder's neck, according to court documents.
The six of them fled. When police arrived at the apartment, Elder was already dead, surrounded by blood.
Police found Cater and Martinson, who told them that they asked Peterson and Streit for help. Streit had told Cater that Elder had ripped him off. He told her he would "get his boys from Minneapolis with a strap," according to a search warrant.
Police found and arrested Peterson, who said he and Streit recruited Murphy, who then brought in Verser, according to the criminal charge and search warrants.
Cater, Martinson and Peterson all made their first court appearance Tuesday. Each of the six are being held in the Hennepin County jail in lieu of bail ranging from $300,000 to $1 million. The others are expected to make their first court appearances Wednesday.
Their friends and family declined to comment.
Martinson has never faced any serious criminal charges. Cater was convicted in February of drug possession.
Peterson has been charged three times with drug possession, and once with terroristic threats and fifth degree assault. Two of those cases were charged in October 2016. When it came time for him to be sentenced in those cases, his friends and family came to his side, all writing letters in December and January to the court to praise him.
A Bloomington police sergeant, Cory Cardenas, wrote that Peterson was a good kid, "with one of the most contagious laughs I have ever been around." But then he said Peterson got involved with drugs and alcohol. The boy he knew had been stolen, he wrote, until a criminal charge caused him to turn his life around. He went to and finished drug treatment. The laugh and sense of humor had reappeared.
Peterson's mother and father wrote to the judge to say that though their son had a normal childhood, when started abusing drugs, there was little they could do. Interventions, tough love, discipline — nothing helped, they wrote. He had to make the decision on his own to stop, which they thought he did.
"I am more convinced than ever before that [Peterson] will have a happy ending," his father wrote. "He will."
Brandon Stahl • 612-673-4626
